His True Name
by SoraxLight
Summary: Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance Spoilers! Xehanort has been on the hunt for his thirteenth vessel, and his eyes refuse to pry off Sora. In many attempts to shake him off, Yen Sid could no longer protect Sora. He sends him away to Twilight Town, where he is known as Hikaru. Kairi can no longer resist the urge to see Sora anymore, which is a vital mistake.
1. Chapter I: Brand New Eyes

**His True Name**

**Chapter I: Brand New Eyes**

"It has come to be apparent that Sora has been branded as the thirteenth member to organization XIII..." Said the old man, brushing down his beard. "Thus Xehanort will stop at nothing to complete his army and create Kingdom Hearts." He looked down and sighed, thinking.

"I have decided on a solution that some of you may not like."

Riku and Kairi looked intensely at Master Yen Sid.

"You won't hurt him?" The auburn asked, her voice full of panic.

"Yen Sid shook his head. "He will be perfectly safe. Although..." He turned back to Riku. "To protect his identity-we may have to pull some strings. I know this will not be easy on the both of you. But we must send him away and replace his memories with those of a different boy..."

Kairi opened her mouth to say something, but Yen Sid continued.

"He will no longer remember you two. He will not remember anybody who he saw during his previous adventures. I am not sure if he will be able to reclaim the memories he has lost...I'm very sorry. But I must ask you two to transport Sora to Twilight Town. Hand him over to Hayner, Pence and Olette. Make sure he is not awake, and that he does not see you on the train ride."

The two friends looked heart broken. To have a childhood friend just taken from you in such short notice. To know that they don't even remember your name. The thought was awful.  
"Do not say goodbye to Sora, either. He will try to go against our wishes. He will want to stay and fight. I've predicted this." He looked sadly at Kairi and Riku. "It is for the best. I am sorry."  
"So what now? We wait and say nothing?" Asked a heart broken Riku.  
"We wait. Then it is your job to sneak up on your friend and knock him out. I will then use my power to rewrite his memory. Then..." He held up a hand to the blank air. A cloud of smoke appeared around it, summoning three train tickets. "You two will escort Sora to twilight town, and return safely back here..."  
The room became dead silent. You could hear a pin drop. Kairi's desperate cries then echoed.  
"Please! No!" She begged. "Isn't there another way!? Please master! I-I... I need him!" Her eyes filled with water.  
"If you would like to say goodbye...you may do it in his sleep..." Said Yen Sid, standing up with his hands behind his back. "I have heard words mean much more to one who is sleeping, then to those awake. Why, you may ask? Memories are never forgotten. They are sent to the unconscious state of mind.

He may not hear you at the time. But his heart will feel you there. I cannot erase feelings, and I don't need to... As long as his heart remains. He will find his way home once this is over."  
"Will he ever come home?" Asked Kairi, wiping away her tears frantically, should Sora walk in any moment.  
Yen Sid just stared out the window quietly. Then he sighed and turned around slowly. "I have said all that I know. He will live the life of a normal boy, as though none of his journey ever occurred... Should his heart begin to notice something missing, he shall follow it home. But you must never-" Yen Sid stopped and stared at the door. It began to open.  
"Welcome, Sora. I hope you found what you were looking for?"  
Sora nodded with a big grin. He shut the door behind him and walked up to Yen Sid's desk. "I was able to thank the dream eaters for helping me on my journey. Although, I can't thank Riku enough." As Sora turned around, he caught a glimpse of Kairi. Which came at a surprise. Kairi smiled weakly as she opened her arms for an embrace.  
"Sora." The name made her want to smile.  
"Kairi, what are you-?" As Sora turned to face the auburn, he felt a surge of force hit the back of his neck. Everything instantly went dark.  
"Sorry, buddy. But I cant afford to lose you again..." Said Riku as Kairi caught Sora in mid-fall. She held him close as she lowered down on her knees to make him comfortable.  
She readjusted the brunette so his head was on her lap and the rest had been sprawled out on the floor.  
"I will give you until Mickey, Donald and Goody return. Thus this tower will be safe from harm whilst you are away." Yen Sid could no longer look at the trio. Even if it was for the best, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was only hurting the situation.

"But, when the time comes...he will need a new name. I will give you two the privilege of naming him once more.  
The two friends looked at each other. Riku nodded to Kairi, giving her first say. She thought a while, thinking very harshly. "I want this name to mean something...maybe Ko...but it doesn't sound right..."  
"Let's add to it," said Riku. "you want it to mean 'light', correct? How about Hikaru?"  
Kairi smiled and nodded, then looked down to her friend. "How about it, Sora? Would you like the name 'Hikaru'?"  
Sora was smiling in his sleep. He always had a goofy grin pressed on his face. They would miss him.  
Time passed silently and quickly. Riku had sat down next to Kairi and watched their friend sleep. He soon would no longer be the same boy who slacked off on the island. The boy who wanted to see new worlds. The boy who accidentally was chosen by the keyblade. The boy who never gave in, even when times were tough. And now...now he would soon be gone.  
Kairi held back her tears for the time it took before the others got back.  
Yen Sid broke the silence. "I want you to tell Hayner, Pence and Olette to keep our secret. I want you to tell them to address him as Hikaru. Make sure they don't mention their last encounter and pretend they've known him since childhood." He finished.  
"But, why them?" Asked Riku.  
"Well, let's think about it. I had to select people who Xehanort knows nothing about. So that left me with few people. We had those from the islands. Why not leave him with them? Because, they would trigger memories very quickly. And my magic would wear off at an alarming rate... But then I remembered the one group you met in twilight town. Kairi, I remember how they treated you like one of their own. I trust them in this simple task."  
Just then, King Mickey walked in through the door, followed by his two companions, Donald and Goofy. At first he payed no mind to the scene going on. But then his eyes locked onto the boy with the bruise on the back of his neck.  
"Oh!" He squeaked. "What happened?"  
"Mickey. I have decided to send him away for a while." Yen Sid gestured to Sora. "I was waiting for your return before replacing all his memories."  
"I thought we agreed to let him decide!" Mickey protested.  
"Yes. I do realize that I have broken our agreement. But you must see, Sora would have said no. And to prove he is worthy, he would do something reckless." The old man sighed. "I am sorry, but it must be done. Should he be captured. He would be put against us. And we would most likely have to put an end to him. I found this option to be much better for him."  
Mickey's eyes furrowed. He had a point. "Well, gawsh. We're one light short then..."  
Kairi looked at this as a reason to let Sora stay. But Riku placed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head.  
"Now I believe it is time to say goodbye to Sora..." Said Yen Sid with a hint of sadness in his voice.  
Donald shook his head and let out a sigh despair. Donald and Goofy hugged the unconscious boy. He would not remember them. He would not remember the adventures they shared together. And yet, they felt he somehow would never forget anybody.  
Mickey stepped up next.  
"Gawsh...I'm sorry for putting you in this kind of danger, Sora." The mouse shook his head sadly. "We'll all miss you..."  
Riku scooted closer.  
"Hey buddy, you just can't seem to stop slacking off." He smiled a bit. "Even if its the world you're supposed to save... But hey, maybe it'll be you who does end up saving us all."  
Kairi sat silent for a bit. "I'll never see your eyes again..." She thought about the beautiful bright blue eyes that always were looking into her own. The ones that gave her a sense of security, no matter what she was feeling. "I'll miss you, Sora." She hugged him, then set him on the ground and stood up.  
Yen Sid then walked towards Sora. The tension in the room grew and grew as each step brought him closer to losing himself.  
The old man placed his hand on Sora's forehead. Everybody watched as his hand began to glow brighter and brighter until it hurt to look.  
As the light dimmed, they knew it was over. Sora was gone.  
Yen Sid handed the tickets to Riku. "Take Hikaru home, Master Riku."  
Kairi looked as though she were about to lose her lunch as they walked down the steps. Riku not only had to carry Hikaru down the steps, but he had to support Kairi because she kept stumbling down the steps.  
But when they made it outside and by the railroad tracks, Kairi finally broke. Her legs gave way and she let out a loud wail that echoed through the empty air.  
Riku had to kneel by her as she sobbed hysterically. He'd never seen her this upset. It was just awful to watch.  
More time passed. And the train finally arrived. Riku had to set Sora in the train. Then come back and help Kairi in.  
This would be one long ride...  
The train was completely silent. No driver. No other passengers to distract them. This seemed to go on a while. Like an eternity.  
"Sora...don't ever change..." Kairi said slowly.  
Just then, Hikaru began to stir. Kairi's eyes went wide with shock. Riku stood up, ready to crack Hikaru upside the head again. But Hikaru was just adjusting in his sleep.

Kairi crawled in his direction, pretending to comfort him in his sleep, but she had snuck something in his pocket...  
"Do you think he's dreaming?" Riku smiled as he sat down slowly, relaxing the tension.  
"He must be...I wonder what he's dreaming about..." Kairi was stuck in her little fantasies.  
"Can't be us." Riku shrugged.  
And from that point on, they were all silent. Kairi thought of the destiny islands. The bright sun. The wonderful breeze. Riku had other thoughts.  
He was thinking about Roxas. This was defiantly deja vu. Which would mean...No. Nobody would disturb Hikaru's happy ending. Nobody.

After a few hours of awkward silence, the train stopped.  
"Here we are." Said Riku, picking Hikaru up.  
Kairi looked like she did a year ago. Just sitting with blank eyes.  
"You gotta get up, Kairi. Hikaru's fine, see?" He gestured to the friend that he had a tight grip on.  
Kairi stood up slowly. "His name is So-"  
"Shh!" Riku hushed her. She can't blow his cover. He can no longer defend himself.  
The auburn looked at the ground sadly and got off the train. "I know where their hideout is." She said. "Follow me."

So they walked around this happy, bright town. Hikaru was still holding that goofy grin in his sleep. It looked so much brighter now that they were in this sanctuary.

Kairi pushed away a curtain that fell in front of a gate. "Hello?" She called into the small room  
Three pairs of eyes peered their way.  
"Kairi! You're back!" Olette stood up from her chair and hugged Kairi happily.  
"You should have told us you were coming! We would've got you ice cream!" Pence said, holding a salty-sweet ice cream in his hand.  
"Oh, don't worry about me... Can I ask you a favor?" The auburn tried to get to the point as quickly as possible."  
"Shoot." Hayner said  
"Well...I have a problem. You know the boy you saw not too long ago? He was looking for me?" Kairi stuttered.  
"Oh! You mean So-" Olette was cut off by Kairi.  
"Yes, him. He's kind of in trouble at the moment. And-" Kairi was then cut off by Riku this time, who walked in the room and set Hikaru down.  
"We need you to babysit this guy for us." Said Riku.  
Everybody stared at the sleeping brunette.  
"In trouble? Babysit? What are you talking about?" Hayner asked, irritated by how confused he was.  
"Can we sit down? And we need to be quiet." Said Riku.  
"Sure." Said Olette, scooting over for Kairi to sit next to her. "You look sick, Kairi..."  
Riku sat in between Hayner and Pence.  
"Let me explain..."

And Riku told them all he knew. Kairi got chocked up so much that Olette had to take her away from the group to eat some ice cream. Hayner never looked so intense in his life. And Pence was paying more attention then normal.  
"So we just need to treat him like one of us?" Asked Pence.  
"Yup. Simple as that. Deny everything that is the truth."  
Kairi and Olette came back. Kairi didn't look so pale anymore, so it was an improvement.  
"What'd I miss?" Asked Olette.  
"The important guidelines." Said Hayner. "I'll explain when Kairi's gone"  
"I'd appreciate that." Said Riku.  
"So will you be staying a while?" Pence asked.  
"Just until Hikaru wakes up."  
"Mmm...that's harsh." Hayner said, eyeing the brunette in the corner.  
"It's the only way..." Riku said, meeting Kairi's eyes. She looked like she was going to cry. Olette reached out and hugged her. At least Kairi had friends to rely on. That's all Riku needed to know. So, Hikaru was safe and Xehanort couldn't touch him.  
"Thank you." Riku smiled at them. "I know you'll take good care of him."  
Hikaru stirred again.  
"We should go now." The silver haired boy sighed.  
Kairi glanced over at Hikaru. He was waking up. She panicked.  
"Thank you all so much. I'll miss you!" Kairi said quickly, wiping away her tears and running out the door. But not before casting her childhood lo-friend one last glance. This was goodbye.  
"Take good care of him. See ya!" Riku waved them goodbye, hiding his sadness.  
And like that, Hikaru would never see his friend's again. Or at least, he wasn't supposed to.

Hikaru's brand new eyes fluttered open to see his best friends looking at him curiously. He looked back and forth in confusion, then he stretched while yawning loudly.  
"Was somebody here? I thought I heard voices..." He asked drowsily.  
"Have you been eating too much ice cream lately?" Hayner teased.  
"And you haven't been sharing!? What's wrong with you?" Asked Pence, rubbing his belly.  
Olette gave them odd looks. She was confused. What did she miss?  
"Don't make me feel guilty!" Hikaru hid his face from view as he turned red.  
"You know what? How bout Pence and I go buy some ice cream for us. Be right back!" Olette grabbed Pence's hand and ran outside. When they were out of earshot, Olette asked "What'd I miss? Are we best friends with him now? And why are you calling him Hikaru?"  
"Well..." Pence looked around. Then whispered to her. "When you left, Riku explained how Hikaru needed to lose his memory in order to protect his identity. Otherwise some 'organization' would kidnap him. So now he thinks he's known us forever." He explained.  
"Is that why Kairi broke down?"  
Pence nodded as they approached the ice cream shop.  
"What can I do for you two?" The man beamed at them.  
"I'd like four salty sweet ice creams, please."

Chapter 1 end


	2. Chapter II: Unexpected Visit

**Chapter II: Unexpected Visit**

Hikaru waited with Hayner for the others to get back. Though something was turning in the pit of his stomach. It didn't feel correct.

_There's only a little time left until summer vacation's over!_

Hikaru gripped his stomach at the sickening sensation.

"What's wrong, Hikaru?" Hayner asked, worried that he had already failed his job. Or that Hikaru had been hurt during transportation.

"Well, doesn't it bother you at all that summer is coming to a close?" Hikaru asked, thinking about all that he could have done during the summer.

"Yes. I just try not to think about it. So stop bringing it up already!" Hayner yelled to his friend. Hayner was always that way. He would get upset over the simplest things. But he would never harm you. He may seem tough, but on the inside he was just as mushy as all of us.

Hikaru smiled to himself how Hayner was so predictable. He didn't want change. He liked the way his life was. It was perfect.

"So, remember that project we had last year?" Asked Hayner, making small talk.

"Oh, you mean about the seven wonders? Yeah, I remember. What about it?" Hikaru didn't remember Hayner really talking about the past.

"Nothing really. I'm just glad we don't have another project this year." Said Hayner, kicking back in his seat. "Though my mom wants me to start doing small jobs around here."

"My mom..." Hikaru thought. What was it about his mom that didn't fit together.

"I'm sorry, man. Didn't mean to bring it up." Said Hayner with sad eyes.

"What?" Asked the brunette. He couldn't seem to remember.

"She-you don't remember?"

Hikaru shook his head.

"Well...you did hit your head pretty hard when you fell off that skateboard... Anyways, she's dead..."

"Oh...Then why can't I seem to remember her?"

"No clue. But umm..." Hayner searched for an alibi, he would have to do a lot of explaining after this... "You live with me now, remember?" Jackpot.

"Oh...oh yeah." Hikaru snapped his fingers. This made sense.

Before Hayner could say anything else, Olette and Pence came back with a bag full of ice cream. "We have some for everybody!" Said the girl.

"Oh, thanks, Olette." Hikaru smiled.

"What took ya' so long?" Hayner teased.

"There was a funny looking dog. I wanted to take a picture of it. But he ran away." Said Pence sadly.

"Then Pence chased after it like a maniac!" Olette scolded indirectly.

"Sounds like you, Pence!" Hikaru said with a laugh.

Everybody joined in as the ice cream was passed around.

"Friends forever." Said Hikaru, holding up his ice cream.

Kairi was awfully quiet on the train and Riku couldn't seem to cheer her up.

"Listen, he'll be just fine." Said Riku, looking desperately at the auburn.

"You think I don't know that?"

"Well, I was just trying to-"

"-don't. Not right now. Please, Riku." Kairi scooted closer to Riku and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Alright then." Said Riku.

But then they felt the train give a jolt. Kairi flew out of Riku's grasp and hit a wall.

"Kairi!" Riku called out as the lights began to flicker.

"W-what's going on?" Kairi asked in a panicked voice.

"Well-" The silver haired boy stumbled as the train began shaking. "we don't exactly have a driver!"

The lights went out.

"Riku? Where are you?" Kairi stood up, looking frantically for her friend.

"I'm over here!" Riku announced. Feeling around for Kairi. He grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her close. They stood where they were and looked out the window as the train slowed down.

They weren't at the tower.

The lights flickered back on.

"Thought you could outsmart us, huh?" Said a taunting voice. "When will you kids learn?"

"Show yourself!" Riku demanded.

"Straight to the point, are we?" A portal opened on the train and a hooded figure stepped out. "I like that about you."

Riku dragged Kairi behind him, so this man couldn't touch her.

"Who are you?" He asked.

The hooded figure chuckled as he let down his hood.

"Xigbar..." Riku mouthed.

"No. Braig."

"No!" Hikaru shouted randomly as they were looking at friendship bracelets.

"Aww...I kind of liked that one, though..." Said Olette, looking at the one she had picked out.

"No, I meant-uh..." The brunette stumbled. Why did he say no? That was ridiculous. Must have been turrets or something... Hikaru scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.

Hayner's mouth twitched. He got bad vibes. If Hikaru was shouting no...

"Alright, who votes on this one?" Olette asked, turning to face them.

It was a chain that had a heart on it.

"I like it," Said Pence, giving his opinion. "but we don't really have the munny to buy four of them..."

"I know. I was just thinking perhaps _someday_ we could get them." Olette said, day dreaming.

"Then we'll get it someday." Hikaru said, smiling.

"Promise?" She asked, holding out her pinky.

"I pro-"

"HEY YOU!" Cried out an old man, running in the direction of the friends.

"What now?" Groaned Hayner, growing quite annoyed.

The man panted. "Have you seen my dog?" He held out a picture of some strange looking dog. The dog had very shiny fur to say the least.

"Oh!" Shouted Pence. "You mean the-mmmph mmmm!"

"Never seen it." Said Hayner, holding Pence's mouth shut.

"Are you sure? I really love that dog..." Said the old man.

"Well, I may not have seen your dog before. But maybe I could help look?" Asked Hikaru.

"What? Hikaru, are you out of your mind?" Hayner spat. He should have guessed Hikaru would be this way.

"You guys can stay behind if you want. I'll help uhm-" He looked at the old man.

"Call me Ugine." He said happily. He'd never met a boy so eager to help him. He felt as though this boy was somebody anybody could trust. He knew they would be good friends.

"Yeah. I'll help Ugine find his dog!" Hikaru said, smiling wide to all his friends.

"Has he always been this way?" Olette whispered to Pence.

Pence just shrugged. "Guess so."

Hikaru turned to leave but was interrupted by his friend.

"Hey wait! Hikaru! I guess...I guess I'll go with you." Hayner said, avoiding eye contact.

Hikaru looked back to face him. Then he smiled widely and nodded. Then he turned back around and ran down the ally.

He had no idea which way the dog went, so Hikaru and Hayner asked some people in town if they had seen a dog pass by.

When it seemed like all was lost. The two friends sat down and took a break.

"Where could a dog go?" Hikaru asked, befuddled that a dog could just up and disappear.

"Well. We can still try the hill top. It's right above the mystery train." Said Hayner. "One of the seven wonders of this town."

Hikaru stood up. Of course! Why hadn't he thought about it sooner?

He took off into the distance, leaving a trail of dirt behind him.

"Hikaru! Wait!" Hayner called after him. He stood up as quickly as possible and ran after his friend.

This hill was the steepest in all of Twilight Town. Making it hard to climb up. Although it was a great place for tourists. We think it's because of the fantastic view you get when you reach the top. The way everything seems to sparkle like it's new.

Hikaru made it up the hill within a half hour. Disappointment welled up in his chest as he was greeted by only garbage bags. He took another look. More garbage bags.

"He's not here..." Hikaru sighed as Hayner finally made it up the hill.

"What!?" Hayner was angry. "All of that running and the stupid dog is not up here!?"

Hayner was so angry he didn't know what to do with himself. So he kicked one of the garbage bags. And received a whining noise.

"Did you hear that?" Asked Hikaru.

"I bet the garbage is pretty upset that I kicked it."

"No. The whining noise."

Hayner listened closely. Then the garbage bag began to move.

"MONSTERS!" He screamed as he began charging back down the hill, tripping over his feet. Hikaru stood there.

"Abandon ship, much?" He questioned, watching as his friend became smaller and smaller down the hill.

Hikaru looked around for some kind of weapon to fend for himself. He wasn't going to let some kind of garbage monster ruin his day.

But he found nothing. Hikaru only could keep walking away from it.

The garbage bag came closer to him, pinning him by the fence. Then it stopped. It just kind of...sat down.

Hikaru reached out a hand to touch the bag. The moment he touched it, the bag leaped up and pounced on him, making barking noises. It sounded kind of like a dog.

"Hey!" Hikaru cried as the bag jumped around. The brunette got back up and tackled the bag down. What on Twilight Town was in there?

Hikaru sat on the bag as he undid the knot that held the bag together. Two feet instantly kicked him in the stomach as a dog leaped out.

"There you are!" Hikaru gasped, retrieving the breath that had been kicked out of him.

The dog turned around to face him. Its tail began waging at a fast rate and he lunged at Hikaru once more, licking his face up and down. Not missing one single place.

"Okay, okay." Hikaru laughed, pushing the dog off. "I need to get you home. It's getting late."

Hikaru looked up at the sky that was changing from an orange to a dark purple with stars. It was twilight.

"Hikaru!" called out a girl with brown curly hair. "Hayner!"

"Hello!" Shouted Pence.

They both sighed and looked down at their feet.

"No good..." Said Olette.

"We have to find them-"

"-MONSTERRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" cried a familiar voice charging their way.

"Hayner!" Olette called to her friend, worry in her voice. She stepped in the stampeding boy's way. He instantly stopped, skidding before his friend.

"What happened?" Asked a worried Pence.

"We-we were looking for the dog! The dog! Garbage bag! Monster!" Hayner gasped for breath, spitting out words only he understood.

"Monster?" Olette scoffed. She didn't believe in any kind of monsters, well, other then the nobodies.

"Monster!?" Pence gulped.

"Yes! Monster!" Hayner grabbed Pence by the shoulders and shook him violently, causing his friend's head to bob back and forth.

"Calm down, already!"The girl snapped. "Where's Hikaru?" She demanded.

"The monster ate him alive, man!"

"What!? Not Hikaru! No!" Pence cried.

Olette snorted, trying to hold back her laughs as she saw Hikaru walking calmly down the hill. Then she couldn't hold it anymore, and began to laugh very hard. She collapsed in giggles.

Hayner and Pence stared at her as though she had just gone mad.

"What's wrong with-"

"-Hey guys!" Hikaru said as the dog barked happily around him. "Turns out there was no monster. Just a dog." He smiled.

"A-a dog?" Pence stuttered. Then he turned to look at Hayner.

Hayner stood, dumbfounded. You could see the heat rising in his cheeks. "I-I didn't know! It could have been a monster!"

Everybody laughed, except for Hayner, who decided to try to keep his dignity. But in the end, he even let out a chuckle.

"We should get going, wouldn't want mom to get worried about us." Said Olette, grabbing her bag and getting ready to leave.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Said Pence, a little sad that he had to go inside.

Hayner looked to Hikaru. "You ready?"

Hikaru shook his head and pointed to the happy puppy. "I need to return him."

Hayner sighed. "Alright, let's find the old guy."

Before they left, Olette decided to give everybody a hug. Hayner pretended not to enjoy them, but deep down they actually made him want to smile.

After Olette and Pence left, Hikaru decided to go in search of Ugine, followed by Hayner.

"I know where he lives, leave it to me." The brown eyed boy said, taking the lead.

They walked down the dim alleyways that grew darker and darker. But were relighted in a short time.

Hayner then stopped in front of a small two-story home. "This is the place." He said before landing three knocks on the front door. They waited. Then they heard muffled footsteps climbing down the steps.

"I'm coming." Called a muffled voice from behind the door.

Then the door opened, revealing the old man they had seen before. He looked exhausted and upset.

His eyes trailed from Hayner, to Hikaru, then finally...

"Fido!" Ugine cried out happily to his companion. The dog barked back and ran around Ugine's legs in circles.

The boys smiled at Ugine and Fido, admiring their accomplishment. Hayner lightened up a bit with the whole situation, you could tell because he was smiling.

"How can I ever repay you?" The old man asked with a bright smile.

Hikaru crossed his arms behind his head. "You don't have to give us anything. Just don't lose Fido again." He said with a cheesy grin.

Hayner was baffled. Who could reject a reward?

"We should get going." Said Hikaru, looking back to Hayner. "Wouldn't want mom getting angry at us."

"Oh, sorry to keep you boys out so late. Tell your mom that it's my fault for keeping you out."

Hayner nodded. "Yeah, thanks." He said, then he turned to leave.

"See ya', Ugine." The brunette said, waving. He then left with his friend and headed home.

"Hayner! There you are!" A worried voice called from up the stairs. It was a middle aged woman who had wavy dirty blonde hair that was tied up in a bun. Her eyes were a milky brown and she was wearing a white button up shirt with blue jeans. It would be a good guess to say it was his mom.

She came running down the steps. "Where were you?"

"Hey mom, can I talk to you in private?" asked Hayner, stepping in front of Hikaru to shield her eyes from seeing him.

She stopped at the bottom of the steps. "Uhh, sure, Hayner." She said, looking befuddled.

Hayner ushered her quickly from the entryway to the kitchen.

"What's wrong-"

"Shh." Hayner hushed his mom, placing a finger to his lips. The woman was starting to get frustrated with her son. "I have a problem. There's a boy in our entryway right now, he has absolutely no memory of who he is, and he thinks his real mom is dead, and that you took him in."

"Wait, w-"

"Somebody is after him. We just need to pretend we're his family for now. Just act as though you've known him for years. His name is Hikaru. I know this is crazy, and I know you're angry. But please just bear with me. It's just as confusing to me as it is to you."

She stood with her eyes wide. She didn't know how to feel about all of this. Family? Take him in? Pretend? Somebody after him? This was balderdash!

Hayner's mom grasped him firmly on the shoulders and took a deep breath.

"I want you to keep him in your room. I want you to take care of him. I want you to keep him in your sight ALWAYS. Hear me, Hayner? He must obey all of our house rules. Just know that whoever dumped him on you is in big trouble with me." She said. Then she turned away from him. "I'm going to make dinner now."

Hayner stood there. She actually took this very well. He was kind of surprised. The dirty blond turned back and walked to the door way.

"Just leave your shoes here, you don't want to drag in dirt. Mom hates that."

Hikaru nodded and pulled off his shoes. "What did you need to talk to her about?"

"Oh, I needed to talk about my doctor appointment. You know how that goes."

The brunette gave an understanding smile. "Oh, I see."

And just like that, Hikaru was given a new home.

Chapter 2 end


	3. Chapter III: A Secret Present

**Chapter III: A Secret Present**

Riku's teeth were grinding together at the sound of his name. Braig's name. But still, he kept his cool. He could feel Kairi's frantic shivering from behind him, he wanted to comfort her. But now was not the time or the place.

"What do you want?" Riku asked, trying to make himself look bigger.

"Please." Braig scoffed. "You already know. Don't you?"

Riku's eyes were narrowed in hatred.

"Allow me to spell it out for you, pretty boy. We want the thirteenth vessel. Once you give him to us, we'll be on our way.

"He's not here!" Kairi shouted, cutting her friend off from saying anything else.

"Oh?" Braig asked, amused.

"He's gone. You'll never find him." The girl said bravely. Finally proud of the decision Yen Sid had made. She kind of smiled as well.

"Fine. Whatever. I can play games as well, princess." He said, giving a graceful bow. His yellow eyes then trailed up back to the silver haired boy. Riku stood his ground though, unmoving. His eyes stayed dead-locked onto the man before them. But then the man flickered before him.

He turned to look at Kairi, who's arm was in Braig's grasp.

"Stopga." He said calmly. Everything flickered for Riku.

Kairi was looking at Braig, her eyes were wide with shock. "What are you-?"

"Shh. I have a little secret for you. Can you keep it?" Asked the man, leaning closer to Kairi. She just glared.

Braig smiled a bit. "Well, I was just going to teach you a little magic trick..But I can see you're-"

"What kind of magic trick?" She interrupted.

He smiled. She was right where he wanted her. "Oh you know. Making portals-without using the darkness, of course. Miss warrior of light."

"Go on." Her eyes narrowed. As though she were looking into his soul.

"Hold out your hand." He said.

As she went to hold out her hand, she stopped. "What's the catch?"

Braig smiled. She was more clever then expected. "You're a clever one, aren't you. I can see your parents taught you correctly. Sadly, there is nothing in it for me. I'm just being generous."

Kairi then put out her hand.

"Close your eyes."

This made the girl nervous. What was he up to? She hesitated, but did as she was told. She closed her eyes tightly as they wanted to stay peeled open. Then she felt a warmth in her hand. It must have been Braig's hand. Then she heard footsteps, and the warmth was gone.

Kairi then heard a weird noise. Kind of like a gust of wind. Though, there was no wind.

"Open your eyes, princess." Said Braig.

The auburn's eyes shot open. She saw Braig at the other end of the train by a portal. He pointed to her palm. Her eyes trailed down the the paper in her hands. Her eyes opened a little wider. She looked back up to Braig for answers, but he was gone.

"A secret, huh?" She asked herself as she slid the paper into her black bag. Just then, time began to flow once more.

"Kairi!" He shouted, still looking in the direction Kairi had been when Braig was there. He then looked around, thinking she had been taken.

"I'm okay, Riku." She said calmly.

Riku sighed and looked around some more. "Where did he go?"

"I don't know. But he's gone." Said Kairi, trying to look just as confused as he was.

"Did he take anything?"

"What could he have taken?"

"Good point..."

The train gave another jolt, sending Kairi crashing into Riku with a yelp. They both fell onto the floor with a loud bang. Kairi's eyes widened in horror that Riku would kill her. Then she began turning red. Riku looked at her. And he looked-and looked...

Then he burst out laughing at her face. It was uncontrollable. She squirmed to get off of him, her face turning brighter by the minute.

"I hate you, train! You hear me? Hate you!" She screamed over Riku's hysterical laughs.

Kairi watched as Riku rolled around in laughs, tears streaming from his eyes.

"It wasn't that funny!" She said miserably.

"I know...I know" Said Riku, getting back on his feet. "I'm sorry." He said with a grin.

"Oh shush!" Kairi demanded, shoving her best friend and turning away from him.

Riku turned to look out the window. "We're back at the tower, miss tomato."

"Good. And don't call me 'miss tomato!'"

The got off the train and walked to the front doors, where Donald and Goofy were waiting for them to return. They looked kind of down.

"It's about time!" Donald scolded, stamping his feet.

"Calm down, Donald. They weren't that long." Said Goofy with a frown.

"We ran into some trouble on the way back. We'll explain later. But for now, we need to see master Yen Sid." Said Riku, waiting for them to move.

As if on cue, the two stepped aside and opened the doors.

Kairi ran ahead of Riku and began charging up the steps like a mad-man. Riku followed suit, leaving the dog and the duck in confusion.

"What'd'ya think happened, Donald?" Asked Goofy, looking down at his pal.

"I dunno, but it sounds bad." Said the duck, walking up the stairs.

The door crashed open, making Mickey leap off of the floor. "Oh!" He gasped as he turned to face the source of noise. "You're back!"

"Yes, and the organization is hot on our trail." Said Riku, getting to business.

"It seems as though there is a fluke in my plan." Said Yen Sid wisely, stroking his beard. "Sit and tell me what has happened."

Two chairs appeared in front of the wizard's desk, allowing Kairi and Riku to sit down. Mickey watched intently at the two. They didn't seem hurt.

"We've delivered Sora safely." Kairi said, not wanting to say where they had delivered him in fear that the organization was listening.

"But, along the way home we had some trouble."

"What happened?" Asked Mickey.

"One of the organization members appeared on the train. He asked for Sora, only to find he was no longer with us. Then he grabbed hold of Kairi, next thing I know, he's gone."

Yen Sid nodded. Then he turned to look at Kairi. "What happened when he grabbed you?"

"I-I don't know. It flickered for me as well..." She fibbed. Kairi did not want to say anything about the portal in fear that the paper would be taken from her. It was her only chance to see Sora again. She knew it was wrong...but still...

Yen Sid stared at her for a while, as though he knew she was lying. "I wonder what he grabbed you for..Do you know who it was?"

"It was Braig, sir." Said Riku.

"I see. Xehanort and the others are probably not strong enough to go after Sora at the moment. So they need somebody strong and full of life, somebody that has fought with him before. Somebody that knows his weaknesses. Of course they would choose Braig, formerly known as Xigbar. We must keep a very close eye on him. Under no circumstances shall you be allowed to see Sora anymore, should the train be stopped on its way to and fro. I am dearly sorry, but it is too risky now. I shall send Mickey once and a while to check up on him. Mickey will be disguised and will not speak. He is very trained in these type of circumstances, you should know, Riku."

Riku nodded, remembering when the king had gone into hiding just last year.

"You need not fear. I shall keep you on your toes with training, and possibly some chores." Said Yen Sid, examining how dusty his tower was. Kairi shuddered at the realization that they would be this wizard's two maids. She started to regret going with Riku when he asked for her to go with him to the tower.

"Your training will start tomorrow. I have assigned you rooms in my tower so you will not always have to stay at the Destiny Islands. Whatever you choose is fine."

"I'll go take a look at my room." Said Kairi quickly, finally seeing a chance to slip away from the others. She sped out of the room and onto the stair cases.

"I guess I should go, too." Riku said, walking out of the room calmly.

When Kairi found her room, she quickly shut the door and locked it. It was a nice room, she had to admit. Although...it was kind of...pink.

She sighed. "Just because I'm a girl..."

But that was the least of her concerns at the moment. She was more curious about the paper she had received earlier. With a quick glance around the room, she reached into her pocket, and pulled out a piece of paper that was folded. Kairi unfolded the paper as quickly as she could. It turned out the paper was a page long. At the top it had the word "_portal" _And below was a picture of a portal.

Maybe Braig wasn't all that bad...

* * *

Hikaru began to stir. He rolled over and fluttered his eyes open. He saw there was shade over him. A tree? His eyes began to focus on the shady object. It was...Hayner?

"Whoa!" The brunette exclaimed, jumping out of bed. "Do you always watch me sleep?"

"Just today. Wanted to make sure you woke up after you hit your head. You could still have a concussion." Hayner shrugged, taking a bite of his cereal.

Hikaru stared at Hayner. "Oh, I see..." He said, scratching his head. "Where'd you get the cereal?"

"...The kitchen?" Said the blond with a mouthful of cereal.

Hikaru smiled. It was such a dumb question. "Oh...I knew that." He said with a slight laugh.

"You have to brush your teeth, first." Said the blond as Hikaru tried to make his way down the steps. Then he turned around. "Where's the bathroom?"

Hayner simply pointed at the door next to him. Hikaru walked in like nothing happened and got ready for the day.

When he walked back out, Hayner was already gone. Hikaru walked down the steps to see Hayner kicked back on the couch and his mom reading a book.

"Good morning." Hikaru said with a smile.

"Oh?" The grown woman looked back from her book to look at Hikaru. She'd almost forgotten the incident from last night.

The brunette waved and made his way to the kitchen, where he grabbed a box of coco-puffs, a bowl and some milk.

It took some time, but Hayner's mom finally turned her attention back to her book. Trying to make it seem like this was an everyday thing. A strange kid living in your house thinking you're his mom...

Since Hayner's show wasn't all that entertaining, (it was on commercial break..) he decided to watch as his new 'brother' scarfed down his breakfast within minutes.

"Did you even taste it?"

Hikaru looked up from his bowl and turned kind of red. "Umm..." He scratched his head. "I was kind of hungry...hehe..."

"No kidding...Let's go find Pence and Olette." Said the blond, standing up and stretching.

"Be home by dark." His mom peeped in.

Hikaru set his bowl in the dishwasher and ran out the door with Hayner. As they ran down the street, Hikaru began to get dizzy and had to slow down. Hayner looked back.

"Are you okay?" He asked, stopping in his tracks.

"I-" He held his head in his hand. He could see something...but he couldn't make it out. There was a duck in blue running on this same street...Kind of a ridiculous vision to be having...

"It's nothing." Hikaru said with a laugh. A duck running down the street. It was kind of cute.

"Are you sure?" Hayner asked with wide eyes. Perhaps his friend was loosing it.

"Yeah, let's go."

The two ran down the street once more and into the hideout, where they saw Pence and Olette gobbling down ice cream.

"There you guys are!" Said Pence, looking up from his ice cream.

"You sure took forever. Pence and I were discussing what to do for the rest of the week since school is coming up. Sit down."

Hayner and Hikaru did as they were told and took a seat.

"What's up?" Asked the blond.

"Alright. So you guys know how we were going to the beach last year, but we couldn't because I'd lost the munny?"

"Yeah. Way to go." Said Hayner.

"Well. We should try it again." Said Olette with a tint of aggression in her voice.

"All right. But I hold onto the munny." The blond said, getting his hopes up again.

"I found some jobs in town that we can do!" Pence said, holding up a flier.

"Hmm...I could deliver the paper..." Said Hikaru.

"I could help the jeweler." Said Olette.

"I can take on a few bees I guess.." Mumbled Hayner.

"The ice cream lady may need help making some popsicles." Said Pence.

"All right. So it's settled. Everybody return here at seven pm to put our munny together." Olette said.

Everybody walked out of the fort and spread out over town, ready to do their jobs. Of course, Hayner had forgotten his duty to keep an eye on Hikaru because of all the buzzing around him. But hey, what's the worst that could happen?

"Oh, you're here for the newspaper add?" Asked a kind lady who looked in her twenties.

"Yup, that's me." Hikaru said with a smile. He was then handed a bag full of newspapers and sent out the door.

"Thank you, dear!" Called the lady as Hikaru picked up a skateboard and rolled away.

Hikaru tossed the papers back and forth from house to house. It was a very easy job, seeing as not many people read the newspaper due to the lack of excitement in this town.

The brunette closed his eyes as the wind blew against his face. Then the sickening sensation began in his stomach all over again.

A tall figure...An orange hat...the tall stature was wearing a bright green sweater and tan pants. He also had dog ears.

_What's with these ridiculous visions!?_

"Oh, So-!" Called the figure. Hikaru couldn't quite figure out what he was saying. It was so faded.

The brunette opened his eyes again-_BANG!_

Hikaru had lost control over his skateboard and fell over, hitting his head on the concrete of the road. His vision blurred and the sounds of this town echoed.

Hikaru stared up at the sky who knows how long. But nobody came to help. So he just got back on his feet and searched for his skateboard.

The ringing in his ears became louder as he walked down the road.

"Ugh.." Hikaru groaned as he put his hands over his ears, hoping to make it go away. The ringing dimmed as he moved his hands away. _Much better._

Hikaru then found his skateboard pressed to a wall. It must have rolled down the hill when Hikaru tripped. And luckily, it was place just next to a house he needed to deliver the last paper to. He reached in his bag and set down the paper by the doorstep. The brunette then picked up his skateboard. It seemed okay.

Hikaru looked back to the sky. It was nowhere near seven. He zoned out a bit as he stared at the sky. It was kind of hard to stay in focus at the moment. He had to go back and collect his munny.

He looked back down at his skateboard and rode his way back up the hill. The lady was already outside when he made it back.

"Oh thank you for delivering the papers!" She said with a smile. She took the bag from Hikaru and handed him some munny.

The brunette didn't look at how much he had, he just put it in his red pouch. "No problem. I'm glad I could help." Said Hikaru, returning the smile.

He then got on his skateboard and rode back down the hill. Only this time, he stopped to see a contest to see who could hit the balloon the most times without it hitting the ground. The winner would earn 100 munny!

Hikaru stopped immediately. 100 munny!? All right!

"I'd like to join." Said Hikaru, looking at the man holding the contest.

"All right. Show me what you got." He said with a smirk. This kid probably couldn't even hit it five times.

Hikaru stepped a fair distance from the man. He then tossed the ball at the brunette. Hikaru leaped in the air and sent the ball even higher. It came back down to meet him. The brunette hit it back in the air, locking his eyes on it.

It continued for a while, and a crowd began to gather.

"60!" They shouted in unison. They had started counting out loud around 40. Hikaru grinned as he sent the ball back in the air.

"61, 62, 63..."

More time passed and Hikaru was starting to get tired. But who knows how many the last person got...

"90! 91, 92, 93..."

Hikaru decided he should give up around 120, it was getting dark...

"100!" They screamed. Not a lot of excitement happened, making this a happy event.

When they said 120, Hikaru launched the ball back to the grown man. He caught it with a skeptical look on his face. Maybe he was wrong...

"Just take the munny and go." He said, not looking at Hikaru.

Why was he angry? All Hikaru did was win. Oh well, at least he had munny to bring back to his friends.

The sky was starting to turn an orange color when he made it back to his friends. Olette was counting munny with everybody gathered around her.

"So far we only have 316 munny... We need 500 munny, though. So we can get the rest tomorrow."

Hikaru walked in and set the munny down in front of Olette.

"There you are, Hikaru. We were considering sending a search squad for you." Said Pence, handing the brunette a salty-sweet ice cream.

Hikaru laughed and took the ice cream. "I'm glad you still think of me."

Olette began counting the munny Hikaru just brought in. "So that brings us to 450 munny." She said with a smile. "Good work, everyone!"


	4. Chapter IV: A Brutal Mistake

**Chapter IV: A Brutal Mistake**

Kairi woke up on something rough. Not soft like sheets on a bed, but not cold like stone. She opened her eyes and began to focus on her surroundings.

"Ugh...too much pink." She muttered out loud. She sat up on the bright carpet and looked down at the crumpled paper. She had spent all night trying to get a stupid portal to work with no success. But the question still burned in her heart. Why was he helping her? Why did he give her this magic?

She got up on her feet and took a look in the mirror. Her hair was a mess and dark circles had framed her eyes. Maybe sleeping on the floor was bad for you...Was it too hard just to take a few steps to bed?

Though, things were pretty different for Riku. He had gotten a good night's sleep and was already in Yen Sid's office, waiting for further directions. When Kairi had run in, panting. Yen Sid had given her an odd look.

"I trust you had gotten a good night's sleep?" He asked, eyeing her carefully.

Kairi panted. "It's too pink in there. You should tone it down."

Riku suppressed a smirk. Though, his body jolted with hidden laughs. He didn't want to offend his friend. Not today, at least.

"I'll be sure to inform the three fairies. But for right now, you must focus on your training. Without one of the warriors of light, we will have to prepare ourselves even more against odd numbers. I'm going to take a guess that, even though the organization does not have Sora, they will find yet another darkness to fight with them. Thus, we will be forced into taking one of the princesses of heart. Kairi, your training will be harsh. Are you prepared to take on the responsibility of a Keyblade wielder?"

The girl stood quiet, thinking. But her mind was already made up. She would fight, for Sora, for Riku. For everyone. She looked up to meet Yen Sid's eyes. She then nodded. Kairi was ready.

* * *

"Hikaru, open your eyes." Said a familiar voice.

Hikaru began to open his eyes slowly, everything was bright, causing a headache to form.

"Oh...maybe he does have a concussion..." Came a girl's voice.

"Haha, we need to stop jinxing him." Said another boy's voice.

"Jinxing? What?" Asked the brunette as he began to squint. It was so bright.

"Perhaps I should call a doctor..." Said another girl. Except, it wasn't a girl. It was a woman.

"No, Mrs. H!" The other girl cut in. The loudness of her voice caused Hikaru's head to hurt even worse. He brought his hands to his head, trying to release some of the pressure that had been built up in his skull.

"Though...he is showing a lot of the symptoms."

"I'll close the curtain. Maybe his head ache will lighten up."

And within a few seconds, the room became a bit dimmer, allowing Hikaru to see. He was surrounded by Mrs. H, Hayner, Pence and Olette.

"What happened?" Asked Hikaru.

"What do you mean 'what happened'?" Hayner asked, seeming surprised that he couldn't remember.

"There's another symptom..." Said Pence, counting his fingers.

"Quiet, you!" Scolded Olette, hitting his hand down.

"Umm...well, my head hurts... Could we start with that?"

"We have no clue. Next." Hayner said shortly and to the point.

"Okay. What happened after we left?"

"You made it home. Then you passed out on the stairs. In fact, you almost puked. I then panicked and rushed you into the bathroom, not wanting to smell or see that crap."

Olette began to giggle. "You're such a girl."

"Look who's talking."

"Gee, thanks guys." Hikaru said with a laugh.

Mrs. H then stood up. "Sorry for my son's lack of experience with medical care. And yes, he is quite girly." She said with a wink.

"Mom!"

Everybody began to laugh at the look on Hayner's face. He was obviously embarrassed about being called a girl in front of his friends, when he was supposed to be the tough guy.

"Shut up! Shut up-shut up-shut up!" Hayner said, talking over the hysterical giggles.

"Aww, it's not so bad-I mean-being a girl and all." Olette teased.

"Ugh! You guys!" Hayner moaned. He then grabbed a comic book near him and held it up to hide his face from the others.

"Do comic books make you feel manly?" Asked Hikaru with a wink. He then examined the room. It was filled with them.

"It's his hobby. I wouldn't tease him too much about Superman." Pence said with stars in his eyes.

"Guys, perhaps we should settle this outside." Hayner said. If it was possible, you would probably be seeing a large vein throbbing on his head. But it was not necessary, seeing as his face was bright enough.

"No rough housing, kids. Or else you'll end up like little Hikaru here." Mrs. H chirped in.

The brunette laughed nervously and rubbed his head. He didn't recall how he had gotten the concussion but it could be the result of rough housing.

Everybody stood up. "To the usual place, gang!" Pence announced bravely.

"...Gang?" Hikaru asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Obviously, he is Superman...or Freddy. I can't tell." Said Olette, scratching the back of her head.

"Defiantly Freddy." Hayner said, standing up.

Pence began to giggle. "Correct, Shaggy!"

And with a couple of exchanged looks, they left to the ice cream shop.

The man standing there seemed to be in a cheerful mood. "Did you hear about the event last night?" He asked as he began counting who was there.

"What event?" Asked Hayner, waiting for the man to finish counting.

"Oh, the balloon contest!" He said brightly, his finger then pointed at Hikaru. "He should know!"

Hikaru's eyes widened. How could he have forgotten? He got 100 munny from it.

"What is he talking about?" Asked Pence.

"I entered a contest to hit the balloon the most amount of times. I then won and got 100 munny! Isn't it great?" Hikaru boasted with a grin.

"That's wonderful! But, is that how you got a concussion?" Asked Olette.

Hikaru stopped to think. No, he was fine. There was a crowd around him, he would have known. "Nah, not then."

"Hmm...it's still a mystery, then." Said Olette, bringing her hand to her chin.

They were then handed a bag of salty-sweet ice cream.

"Come again!" The shopkeeper grinned.

"Thanks." Said Hayner, taking the bag and turning around.

"Where should we go, now?" Asked Hikaru.

"We'll just go to the usual place until we find something to do." Said Hayner. He then began walking, the others followed.

When they got there, and they were all settled down, it was time to pass out the ice cream. Hayner opened the bag and began to pass the ice cream around. But he paused when he found something odd.

"Huh, there's an extra ice cream in here..." He said, pulling two more ice creams out of the bag. Olette was the first to react.

"I could have sworn he counted correctly..." She said.

"Well, I saw a boy walking passed when he was counting. Perhaps he accidentally counted him as well." Said Hikaru, thinking back to when he had explained the whole contest.

"What boy?" Asked Pence.

"There wasn't another boy." Olette said plainly.

"You sure he doesn't need a doctor?" Asked Hayner.

Hikaru looked befuddled. "What?" He asked, thinking back to the blonde who had smiled their way. How did they not see him? He was in plain sight. Maybe they were not paying attention. Maybe they were too drawn in to his story.

"We can't afford to-" Olette stopped herself and glanced nervously at Hikaru. Her thoughts then scrambled for an excuse. "-to, uhh, pay the medical bills! Yeah, they're far too expensive."

She was given award winning looks of confusion.

"Doesn't Hayner have medicare?" Asked Pence.

"No! Most certainly not!" Said the girl quickly.

Hayner was quite concerned for Olette's health. But after a while, he put two and two together. "Oh! Of course not. Mom didn't ever think we'd get into any trouble."

Pence opened his mouth but was then cut off by Hayner once more.

"We should go check out the ghost train today!" He said, jumping to his feet. "Everybody is coming along, whether they want to or not."

The group made it across town and to the hill within an hour. Which was pretty good time, seeing as one can easily get lost in town.

"So, why are we seeing the ghost train? Didn't we try to see it last year, but then it didn't come?" Asked Pence.

"Sure, we saw it last year. But it's always nice to see it twice. And remember, the train did come. It was purple and stuff." Said Hikaru, laying down on the ground.

Olette looked at Hayner. She clearly didn't remember this one bit. And she didn't know how to play along. Everybody decided to keep quiet and wait for the train. Which took a very long time. They had sat there for hours, talking about pointless stuff. Or what they would do at the beach.

Somewhere on another world, though. A girl had just made an awful mistake. She made a portal.

* * *

_Author's note: I'm super sorry that this chapter is so short! School has been depriving me of my inspiration. ;-; I will be sure not to do this again. I'll try to make the next chapter longer, but for now, enjoy this one. ^^_


	5. Chapter V: Pulled Heartstrings

**Chapter V: Pulled Heartstrings**

Kairi examined what she had just made. It wasn't dark and gloomy. She thought back to the time that Axel had asked her to go with him, and she had ran into the portal. It had a sickening feeling, like she was becoming weaker. But something had kept her strong. She remembered becoming a bit stronger until the darkness didn't affect her anymore. It was such a wonderful feeling. But this was different.

The portal looked pale and transparent. She took a glance out her window. It was nighttime, who would see her? She looked back to the swirling transparency in front of her.

"Here goes nothing." She said quietly to herself, taking a leap forward into the portal, thinking of Twilight Town. In the portal, there was a faint glow, with X's all around, instead of the Nobody signs she had seen in the other portal.

In front of her, the world was shifting, it began to morph into a clock tower. Kairi blinked and rubbed her eyes a bit. When she opened her eyes again, she was in Twilight Town. The sky was a beautiful Dark Blue with stars shining brilliantly. The breeze swept Kairi's hair from her face, it felt like home here. It was good to know she had picked such a welcoming place.

From behind, she heard a dog barking happily as an old man walked down the street with him. The man looked just as happy as his dog. Kairi smiled a bit and decided she would drop by tomorrow after training instead.

She turned around and looked for somewhere that nobody would see her open a portal. She walked down a path for a while, looking at the ground. The colors were even welcoming. Kairi thought back to the time she had spent here. Although it was only for a short while, she remembered how sweet everybody was. Even- Kairi had bumped into something hard. She stumbled back to get a better look at what she had just ran into.

A tall boy turned around to look at her. "Hmm?" he mumbled curiously. His light blue eyes trailed all over the girl. "Wait...you're-" his eyes widened a bit and his face became a bright red. "-Kairi!"

"Seifer!?" she asked, dumbfounded that she would have ever seen him again. He had met her when she was walking with Hayner Pence and Olette to get stuff for her journey. She remembered he looked extremely flustered. His face was all scrunched up and he had been interrogating her awkwardly. Olette's and Hayner's remarks weren't helping either...

"What are you doing here? I thought that you-I mean-uhh... You shouldn't be out at night! That's bad territory! I would know!" he said sternly with the same scrunched up face.

"Oh, you know...shopping?" Kairi laughed a bit nervously. "But wait-" she put her hands on her hips. "-if I'm not supposed to be out at night, why are you?"

Seifer looked taken aback. But he quickly recovered. "Because I'm tough!" He said snidely.

"And I'm not?"

"Well, you're a girl."

"...and?"

"And people might want to abduct you!"

"And?"

"And...well, what about those weird monster things? They might come back."

"They're gone...I think." Kairi then looked away, thinking.

"HA! I mean. See? It's far too dangerous. You should probably go back." Said Seifer, puffing out his chest.

"Fine."

"And...you should come back tomorrow! For shopping..."

"Maybe I will."

Kairi then turned around and walked the other way.

"Do you need an escort?"

"No, I'm good."

"...Be careful!"

She then turned a corner and smiled to herself. He wasn't mean or tough at all...

Kairi pressed her hand to the side of a building and watched as the white portal appeared before her. She took a deep breath and thought of her room in Yen Sid's tower. She jumped through without a second glance and watched as the room morphed in front of her. She was back. And her door swung open just as the portal closed, revealing a silver haired boy. It was Riku.

"You're okay! Thank goodness!" he sighed as he hugged Kairi.

"I'm okay?" She asked.

"Well, you weren't responding, so I thought maybe Braig had come back for you."

"It's okay. I can protect myself now."

* * *

Hikaru woke up to see the room illuminated by the Sun's warm glow. "What a nice dream..." He said quietly to himself as his head began to ache a bit from the light. But it was a bit milder now, so he must have been getting better.

"What dream?" Asked Hayner, leaning over Hikaru.

"Whoa!" the brunette leaped up and collided heads with his roommate. Hayner toppled over and made a loud bang on the floor and Hikaru gripped his head tightly in pain.

"What was that for!?" Asked the blond.

"Sorry!" Said Hikaru, lifting his hand from his head.

"Yeah, yeah...Whatever. Anyways, the dream?"

"Oh! Well, umm..." He tried to catch the memory as it kept slipping from his thoughts. He would remember what it was for about a second but then forget. It was frustrating. He sat there for a while and thought. Hayner let him have some thinking time, knowing the feeling of a dream you can't seem to hold on to.

After about 7 minutes, Hikaru finally got it. "I remember! It was a beach. And it was really warm and relaxing. I felt right at home." He said.

"That sounds pretty lame. But that reminds me, we have to get the rest of the munny to go to the beach, remember?"

"Right!"

Hikaru leaped out of bed and got ready as fast as possible. Hayner watched his friend zip through the room and get ready for the day within 5 minutes.

The blond was then yanked down the steps in a hurry.

"See ya,Mrs. H! We're going to the usual place!"

The door was then slammed shut. "...Bye?"

"Hikaru, don't you think you're in too much of a hurry to get 50 munny?" Panted Hayner once they reached the usual place.

"You two are late!" Pouted a brunette girl.

"Sorry, I got a late start." Hikaru said, scratching the back of his head.

"Whatever. We've got news that Seifer's gang has been acting up today." She continued.

Pence began to chuckle and covered his mouth.

"What is it?" Asked Hikaru.

"Well, I'm not really sure-" Olette began to say, but was cut off by Pence.

"Seifer has a crush! I thought everybody knew." Said Pence with a grin on his face.

"We can't say that for sure!" Said Olette.

"Well, I think it's true." Pence said.

"Who does he have a crush on?" Asked Hikaru.

Olette opened her mouth, but no words came out. She instantly closed it and thought. "Well, that's what we don't know."

"Aww." Hikaru moaned. "That's lame!"

"Not for long." Olette grinned evilly as she reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of binoculars.

"What are we going to do once we find out who he likes?" Asked Hayner, clearly not intent on this idea.

"Umm..." Olette and Pence looked at each other, then shrugged.

"Exactly. We have to go to the beach tomorrow! And we need that money today. So we're going to get it." Hayner said with authority.

Pence and Olette didn't seem too thrilled about this, but they did as they were told.

"Okay, you and Hikaru can pair up. I'll stick with Pence." Said Olette. The four then split up and looked for jobs to do.

"We should clear out some beehives. That'll pass the time, plus, it pays pretty well." Said Hayner.

"Sounds good to me." Hikaru said with an air. They then looked for somebody who needed help.

The two knocked on the door of the first house they saw. An old lady emerged.

"Yes?" She asked sweetly.

"Do you need any help removing beehives?" Asked Hayner.

"Oh, no dearies. My grandson already helped me this morning. Thank you for offering." She said.

"Oh, well, okay. See ya." Said Hayner, and he stepped down.

The two went door to door asking if people needed help, but no one seemed to need it. Even if they had beehives, they didn't want to pay anybody for help.

Finally, after an hour and a half, someone had said yes.

"Thank you very much!" Hikaru thanked the man and went straight

to work.

"We need a plan, because I don't have any fancy spray." Said Hayner, thinking. After about a minute he looked back up. "You distract the bees while I destroy the nest."

"Good idea! Wait-WHAT?" Hikaru gasped.

"Here," Hayner handed Hikaru a rock. "throw this at the nest. They'll chase you down so be ready to run."

The blond took cover behind the house, leaving Hikaru alone with a rock in his hand. He took a deep breath and began to aim. "The beach better be worth it." He said as he threw the rock and hit the nest, leaving a gaping hole. His body instantly tensed as he stood and watched in horror as wasps began to emerge from the broken nest.

Hikaru turned and began running at top speed, shouting the most obscene things.

"I'M SORRY! It was the rock, not me! Sting the rock, sting the rock! Bad! Bad bees! I mean wasps! I'm sorry!"

Hayner ran across the house while he had a chance. He picked up a stick and began destroying the whole nest, making quick work. Within about a minute, he had demolished the whole nest. Hayner looked to Hikaru, who was still running around like a maniac.

He hadn't planned this far ahead. All Hikaru could do was run and wait for help.

The same old lady that Hikaru had seen earlier watched as he ran from a swarm of bees.

"Over here! Get inside, dear!" She called as she set down her watering can hastily and opened the door.

Hikaru did as he was told without a second thought. He rushed inside and watched as the lady shut the door quickly. He keeled over, grabbing his knees and panting. "Thank you...so much."

"It's no problem. My grandson had the same problem." She said. "By the way, my name is Flora."

"Oh, I'm Hikaru. Nice to meet you." He said as polite as he could.

The faint buzzing began to disappear.

"I hear that you can use pesticides now. They work more efficiently." said Flora.

"You can tell that to Hayner." Hikaru laughed a bit. "But I should be going. He's probably worried sick. Thanks again."

"No problem, dear. Please do be more cautious."

Hikaru checked the window the see that the wasps were gone. He then walked out the door with a final goodbye.

He looked up and down the street. There were no wasps, but he saw a girl with an ice-cream in her hand. Her hair was a dark reddish color and she wore a pink dress. Hikaru's blue eyes stared at her for who knows how long. She looked up from her ice-cream and met Hikaru's gaze. His head immediately began to throb. He watched as she dropped her ice-cream and began running.

"Hey, wait!" He called out to her, clutching his head. He began running after the girl, and he wasn't sure why. His body just did it on its own. What dragged him forward wasn't his curiosity, it was the aching in his heart. But the girl ignored him and kept running, glancing back every once and a while.

The throbbing in Hikaru's head didn't stop, neither did the hurting in his heart. All he could think of to do was to follow this girl no matter what.

He watched as she rounded a corner, and proceeded to turn down the same route. But when he looked, she was gone...

There was nobody there.


	6. Chapter VI: His True Name

**Chapter VI: His True Name**

Kairi sat on the ground, panting. She wiped the sweat off of her forehead. _He saw me! How could I have been so stupid? Pull it together, Kairi! _She kept reciting the first sentence over and over to herself quietly.

"He saw me..." She said one more time. Her heart was still racing. But she knew he couldn't remember her, right? They'd just made eye contact for a second, that's all. She could just be some random girl he saw passing by.

...No, he chased her down. He had to be onto something. But how could he have done it so suddenly?

"I'm not even a week in...and I've already managed to screw up..." Kairi muttered. But what really bugged her was the fact she was taught to make portals. Without a price? It was becoming harder to lie to herself. She knew the bad guys didn't just give away presents.

They always had a motive.

* * *

"Did you get her name?" Asked Pence, leaning in closer for details.

Hikaru looked down and shook his head sadly. "No, no name."

"Do you know what she looked like?" Asked Olette.

"She had red hair, and she was wearing a pink dress...Oh!" Everybody jumped at his exclamation. "She had blue eyes too."

Olette relaxed a bit. She didn't want to be the one to blame for his remembrance of something.

"Oh, that's just, umm...Seifer's girlfriend! Remember the rumors? That's who it was." Hayner jumped in.

Hikaru stuttered. "Oh...right."

Olette saw that he was somehow already attached. She began thinking of ways to make him feel better.

"Well-uhh-I hear she's really mean anyways..." Said Olette.

"But why did she run away from me?" Asked Hikaru.

"Beats me." Said Hayner. "Anyways, tomorrow, we're going to the beach!"

"I almost forgot!" Pence said, his eyes bulging.

"Wait, we have enough munny?" Asked Hikaru, nearly hopping out of his seat.

"Yup! We should probably start packing. Let's see..." Said Olette, grabbing a piece of paper. "We need sunblock, bottled water, bathing suits, extra munny for food, towels, umbrellas, sunglasses, a radio, and some extra clothes."

"Sounds good to me." Said Hayner, stretching.

"We should hit the hay, so we can be well rested for tomorrow." Said Pence.

"This is gonna be great!" Hikaru said, grinning.

The group stood up and parted ways into the darkening sky. Hikaru and Hayner walked side-by-side. They were a bit later than usual today, but Hayner was sure that his mom wouldn't be too upset.

Hikaru suddenly ran into something hard.

"Whoa!" He shouted, falling over.

"Hmm?" A tall man turned around and looked at Hikaru, who was on the ground. "You all right?"

"Yeah...I'm fine. Sorry." Said Hikaru, rubbing his head and looking up at the boy.

Seifer and his gang was out tonight.

"Wait a second... Do I know you from somewhere?" He asked, looking closely at Hikaru.

Hayner instantly jumped in. "Nope, he's new here. And we're kind of in a hurry." He pulled Hikaru off the ground. "Well, gotta go!"

And just like that, Hayner had dragged Hikaru with him in a trail of dust to escape the disaster that was prone to happen any second.

"What was that about?" Asked Seifer. He began to ponder a bit. "That kid was definitely familiar."

He was quiet for a bit. "Oh yeah! He's the guy who caused all of that trouble. Wonder why he's here again..."

* * *

"What took you two so long? I've been worried sick about you!" Mrs. H scolded.

"We just ran into an old friend. Sorry about the delay." Said Hayner calmly.

"Who was this old friend exactly?" She interrogated.

"...Seifer..." Hayner mumbled.

"I thought you didn't like him." She said.

"I don't think he likes us very much, either."

Hikaru's eyes trailed back and forth as though he was watching a ping pong battle. He felt awkward watching them so he just snuck upstairs without being seen.

The brunette entered his room quietly and began packing what he could scrape up. Except, the problem was that he couldn't find things that were actually _his_. He began staring at the room. Only Hayners' things were there.

Hikaru heard a click from behind him and jumped.

"Hey, mom wants you downstairs for dinner-" Hayner said. He then looked at Hikaru. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just packing issues." The brunette said with a smile. He stood up and walked with Hayner downstairs to get some dinner.

Hayner wasn't sure how to cover up for this. He knew what Hikaru had seen. He didn't have anything that belonged to him. Maybe he didn't have anything when he moved in? No, it's been years since he's "moved in". So that wouldn't work out. Maybe-

"Hayner, can I borrow some stuff for the beach trip?" asked Hikaru, bringing Hayner to his senses.

"Hmm? Yeah, sure." He said quickly, grabbing a plate.

"Thanks, I just can't seem to remember where I put my stuff-well, any of it in fact." He said, scratching his head and grabbing a plate for himself.

"We have plenty of stuff here, so it shouldn't be hard to get something together for tomorrow." Said Mrs. H.

* * *

Kairi began to pace, if she told somebody, then she could find out why she was given this power, but if she did that...

It was too much. It seemed like a choice of his safety and her happiness. The thought made her feel guilty. Watching over him really didn't make her happy, it just kept her at peace. But it was still sad, knowing that he didn't remember her.

But what if he did? He chased after her, didn't he?

"Kairi, are you okay?" asked somebody from behind the door.

Kairi leaped off of the ground and looked at the door, her heart still pounding hard. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Can I come in?" He asked.

"Umm..." Said Kairi, tucking the page safely in her pocket. "sure."

The door clicked and swung open softly. Riku walked in and shut the door behind him.

"You've been acting strange lately. It isn't like you to just stay in your room all the time." He said, getting to the point.

"Oh? I didn't notice. Sorry."

"Well, I thought it was because you've been tired. But then again, you're never tired." Riku looked around the room. "And there isn't a lot to do in here."

Kairi looked around for an excuse, but no words came out of her mouth.

"If anything is wrong, you can tell me." said Riku.

Kairi stood still and thought, it seemed like forever. "Thank you."

Riku sat for a while, then stood up and nodded. As he made it to the door, he turned around. "If it has to do with Braig, you need to tell me. The purpose of sending him away was to keep him safe. I know it hurts, I'm upset too. But we have each other."

And with that, he left the room.

_If it has to do with Braig, you need to tell me._

Kairi stood up instantly, running to the wall and making a portal. If Braig had to do with this, what if he already had Sora?

She jumped through without a second thought.

* * *

It was the next day. The sun was very bright as it gleamed through the window.

"Hayner..." Said Hikaru, leaning over his friend, who wouldn't budge. "Hayner wake up!"

"Huh-wha?" He mumbled.

"We're gonna be late!" Said the brunette, pointing to his already packed bag. "C'mon!"

Hayner lazily got out of bed and got ready. The fact that Hikaru was bouncing around the house and screaming at him like a gym coach wasn't exactly helping, though...

When Hayner was done, the boys said goodbye to Mrs. H and ran to the usual spot.

"We're here!" Shouted Hikaru.

"Awesome! Do we have everything?" Asked Olette.

"Yup." Said Pence, gesturing to his bag.

"I've got mine." Said Hayner, lifting his bag a little.

"Yeah" Said Hikaru, looking at his bag.

"Alright, we just need to head to my place to get the munny, I kept it there for safe keeping." Said Olette, standing up.

The group followed her to her house in utter excitement. Pence was going on about how huge the food was that they had at the beach, which particularly interested Hikaru. And Hayner went on about how huge the waves were.

"Wait here, I'll go get the munny." She said, walking in her house.

As her door clicked shut, another noise sounded behind them. Hayner, Pence and Hikaru quickly turned around to see a black shape appear on the wall behind them.

"What's that?" gasped Pence.

"Way to fall right into our trap!" Said a man who stepped out of the portal. He began clapping.

He wore an eye patch over one eye, and his greyish hair was tied back into a long pony tail. He also wore a black cloak. But what was more unnerving was his gold eye.

"Have you enjoyed your stay in the luxury of Twilight Town?" He asked animatedly.

"What are you talking about?" asked Hikaru.

"Don't listen to him!" Hayner shouted. "And you need to stay out of our town!" He said, turning to the mysterious man.

"Aww, don't tell me he didn't tell you. You didn't think that you'd be staying here forever, did you?"

"You're nuts!" Hikaru blurted out.

"Am I? Why don't you ask your friends for the truth? Or maybe, they aren't even your friends? Maybe this is all made up."

"Shut up!" Hayner hissed.

"What truth?" Asked Hikaru.

"Hikaru, if you let us explain-" Pence started.

"You had your chance, boy! Now it's my turn. Let me make things clear. So you must be wondering who I am. Or perhaps, who that girl is you keep seeing. Easy, you were sent away by your friends who wiped away your memory. They didn't want you anymore, in fact, they didn't even have the courtesy for you to keep your real name. So your little friend Kairi took a page from my book and came here every day out of regret. Little did she know that I could track her every time she made a portal. But I had to make sure it was you that she kept going to see. And now, she's lead me right to you, bearer of the Keyblade." He pointed to Hikaru.

He stood still. "What's my true name?"

Braig grinned. "Time for this party to end, eh? Ready for this world? His true name is Sora!"

It's as though time stopped. Sora began to hear voices. So many people have said this name before, so many places he'd been. All of those hearts he had touched. And yet, he was standing here ready to go to a beach while the Organization was preparing to take away everything. While Xehanort was on the loose.

"Come with me, and I'll take you down the right path." said Braig, holding out his hand.


	7. Chapter VII: Home is Where the Heart is

**Chapter VII: Home Is Where the Heart is**

Sora stared at his hand, his memory was still foggy. But he had bad vibes. Hayner and Pence looked concerned, and Olette was nowhere in site.

_Keyblade..._

His eyes were still locked on Braig's hand, this was his choice.

_Keyblade..._

Sora began to raise his hand.

"Sora, don't!" Hayner shouted.

All was still. The brunette's eyes shifted from Braig's hand to his own. Then, suddenly, a bright light flashed.

With a quick motion, Sora had swept the Keyblade in both hands.

"I don't need you to tell me my path!" he said.

Braig scoffed. "Oh, now you're a big shot! I see..." He brought up his arm, summoning his Sharpshooter. "In that case, I'll just take you by force!"

Braig aimed at him and was about to shoot, when someone appeared.

"Don't touch him!" A girl shouted, swinging her Keyblade at him, causing him to disappear, then reappear a few feet back.

He began to laugh. "Look who's decided to show up! The very reason you're here!"

Sora stared at the girl. She looked so familiar.

_"Gimme a break, Ka-"_

He shook his head.

_"There's no way you're taking Kair- heart!"_

She turned to face him, it was a face that he had seen so many times before.

"Kairi!" He gasped.

She nodded a bit "It's my turn to do the saving."

Sora smiled and walked forward "We can both be the hero."

"Or so you thought, as if!" Said Braig with an air of confidence.

Just then, they were surrounded by 11 more figures.

"Hayner, Pence, get inside with Olette!" Sora called to the two boys who were cornering themselves to a wall. They did as they were told, and ran inside.

"Kairi, thank you..." Sora said, looking at Kairi.

"Don't thank me." She said quickly, looking at the hooded figures.

"Now, you have your choice, Keyblade bearer, come with us peacefully, or we can do this the hard way." Said Braig.

"There's no way I'll go with you!" Said Sora, running at Braig.

Braig scowled, "Fine. I see how it is."

He then raised his Sharpshooter and deflected Sora's hit. Kairi ran at him, but one of the cloaked figures grabbed her.

"I'll take you down one by one." Said Braig. He leaped onto a roof and aimed at Sora. His finger touched the trigger, pulling it. At that moment, Sora ran to Kairi's aid.

"What's the plan?" Sora asked, Kairi normally knew what to do. His memory was still pretty hazy.

"I thought you had one!" She said, back to back with him. They then leaped apart to take down some of the cloaked figures.  
Sora swung, knocking one of the members to the ground. Another appeared and kicked him, then pinned him to the ground. He began to struggle under the weight, but the cloaked man shoved his face in the dirt.

"Sora!" Kairi cried, swinging her Keyblade and knocking one of the organization member's away. She ran to Sora's aid.

"Get off!" She yelled, swinging and hitting him in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. "You have to get up, Sora!"

He nodded and jumped to his feet. "Thanks."

* * *

"I sense a dark disturbance, Riku." Said a wise man, stroking his gray beard.

"What do you mean? Is Xehanort's army complete?" Riku asked with panic.

"No...but I do believe it is coming from Twilight Town." Yen Sid added with a dark tone.

"That's impossible! I thought he was safe! How could we have messed up?"

"Go get Kairi. Bring her here. We mustn't exclude her, for I believe both of you must hear this."

Riku nodded and quickly ran out the door. Yen Sid sat in silence.

"I can't seem to understand...how could have Xehanort foreseen this, again? There was no way. I made sure of it..."

Yen Sid's door opened once more. Had Riku really have been that fast? No, it was the king.

"Yen Sid, I-"

"Mickey, I have some grave news if you wish to listen."

"But this is _really_ important!"

Yen Sid stared him in the eyes. "Don't tell me-"

"The Organization has found Sora!"

Just then, the door flew open. It was Riku. "Kairi's gone!"

* * *

"You two should really keep still!" Said Braig, shooting at Kairi and Sora.

"In your dreams!" Sora shouted back, dodging another laser.

Kairi was holding her own against an Organization member, she held her Keyblade up while pushing back. She then swept their weapon away.

"Sora, we have to get of here!" She called.

Sora nodded and began to run in Kairi's direction. A laser then cut him off. He jumped back.

"What's the rush? I thought we were just getting started!" Said Braig. He leaped off of the roof.

"Look, we didn't spend 10 years for nothing. You're just making this harder than it has to be. Just give in to the darkness. It gives you strength."

Sora shook his head. "I've told you this before. Strength doesn't come from darkness or hate. It comes from the people we meet, the people we care about. It comes from here." He placed his hand over his heart. "That's why everything you do will always fail! Because we will be here to stop you!"

Braig's eyes widened. He gritted his teeth. "And look where that 'power' has gotten you, kid. Where's your friends, now? You look a little pale, why not let me take care of you?"

He shot at Sora's leg, knocking him down.

"Sora!" Kairi screamed.

One of the cloaked men held Sora down. Another grabbed Kairi and held tightly.

"Now, let's finish this." Said Braig, stepping forward.

Kairi's eyes brimmed with tears when all of a sudden, all of the Organization members were knocked down.

"I think not." Said a familiar voice.

Sora looked up, "Riku!" he gasped.

"Gosh, are you two okay?" Mickey asked, popping out from behind Riku.

"You two!" Braig hissed.

Sora got up. "I'm fine." he looked to Kairi, who nodded.

"I'm okay. We're just glad you're here."

"Oh great, a nice family reunion." Braig said sarcastically, clapping.

"The show's over!" Riku said, pointing his Keyblade at Braig.

Sora was smiling and holding back tears. How could he have forgotten his friends? The ones who had been with him every step of the way.

In fact, this was about the fourth time Riku had to get him out of some kind of trouble. But right now was not the moment to reminisce.

"Riku, we've gotta get out of here!" Sora exclaimed.

"Right!" Responded the silver haired boy. But to their surprise, the Organization members began to attack.

Mickey ran up to confront Braig. "You!"

Braig grinned, "It's me, alright."

Mickey had expected someone like Xemnas to have conducted this. But it made sense. Xemnas was pretty valuable to the Organization. Still, without Xemnas they were pretty weak. And they were going after Sora.

Unless they knew...

"How did you know that Sora would have been here? And how did you know that he didn't remember anything?"

Braig's grin widened. "How could you not know? It was simple, really. Thank Kairi, without her we couldn't be here today."

"Kairi?" asked the king. He looked back to the auburn girl who was fighting alongside Sora and Riku. "What do you mean, Kairi?"

He began to explain, "Well, I gave her this little gift-"

"Your Majesty, we have to go _now_! This is our only chance!" Sora called.

Mickey glared at Braig before running after the others.

"Until next time..." Braig growled. "See ya real soon."

* * *

Hayner, Pence and Olette had their faces pressed to the window. They sat in silence, watching.

"A-are they gone?" asked Olette. Her face was now a pale, dead color.

"I think so." Pence whispered.

Hayner stood up silently. He walked to the door and looked out the peep-hole. He then pressed his ear to the door.

_"We need to report to Xehanort."_

_ "He's not going to like this..."_

_ "He will have a plan."_

_ "Let's just hope it won't take as long."_

He then heard a portal open and close. It sounded like a large gust of wind. Hayner looked to his friends.

"They're gone." He said.

A large sigh filled the room. Pence and Olette leaned back. "But where's Hi-Sora?" asked Pence.

"Do you think they got him?" Olette asked, her eyes wide.

Hayner shook his head. "No, they sounded disappointed."

"That's a relief." She responded.

"But who's Xehanort?" Hayner asked.

"Who?" asked Pence.

"Xehanort, the guy they were talking about."

"I have no idea." said Olette.

Hayner thought. They said that they needed to report to him. Apparently he had a plan too.

"I'll bet he's their leader." he said slowly.

* * *

Yensid, Mickey, Lea, Donald, Goofy, Sora, Kairi and Riku sat in silence. Yen Sid raised his head.

"It seems that Xehanort has discovered our plan of putting Sora into safety. It is now apparent that we cannot evade what is to come." He paused and looked at Kairi. "Mickey has informed me that an Organization member said that you may have been the cause, given a gift."

Kairi nodded.

"Can you tell me exactly what happened?"  
She shuddered and looked around the room. She felt that everybody was disappointed in her.

"It-it was on the train." Kairi looked at Riku. "Braig gave me a page of a book. He said it was a way to make portals without using the darkness. I guess it was him making the portals all along. Because how else could you make a portal without using darkness?

Anyways, I used the portals to check on Sora every now and then. It didn't seem like I was doing anything wrong, but..." She looked to the ground.

Yen Sid nodded, "Ah, I see now...Braig has been using these portals to track Sora. He knew that you would want to see him again. Thus, when you created the destination, he could see through it. Of course he wanted to make sure it was consistent as to where you were going."

"I wonder when they'll learn." Lea said. "They'll never win. I know this for a fact."

Everybody nodded.

Yen Sid spoke. "Sora, I am sorry for endangering you. It was wrong of me to try and prevent fate. You will all begin training as of tomorrow."

Sora shook his head. "You know I can handle it. I'll never become a vessel for Xehanort, and that's a promise." He then looked to Riku. "And I am so sorry. I never meant to always make you come and save me."

Riku chuckled. "That's what friends are for, doofus." He poked Sora in the head.

"Who are you calling 'doofus'?" The brunette grinned.

"You're the only one here."

"Hey!"

Everyone began to laugh. It was such a relief that almost everything was back to normal.

"Gawrsh, I was so worried." Said Goofy.

Donald folded his arms. "I knew Sora would be okay."

"Yeah, sure." said Lea with a wide grin. "That's why you were panicking, right?"

"WAACK!" Donald's eyes popped open.

Everyone laughed again. "I missed you too, Donald." Said Sora. "But I have some unfinished business."

"Not alone, you don't." Riku said.

Sora looked around and smiled. "Sure, you can come too."

* * *

"Hayner, Pence, Olette...thank you." Sora started.

"It's no problem, really." Olette responded. She then looked to Mickey. "Sorry we couldn't keep him safe, your Majesty."

Mickey grinned. "It's no problem."

"You did your best, and that's what matters." Said Riku.

"If you ever need our help, feel free to drop by." Hayner offered.

"Thank you, we will." Said Kairi.

"Take care." Pence said with a smile.

"You too." Lea replied.

Sora looked to the sunset, he knew it would be a long journey before he could go home, but it was worth it. He also thought of Roxas, all of those memories he held. 'Hikaru' held some of those memories in place of Sora.

If Sora could go back in time, he wouldn't have traded this for anything. Home is where the heart is.

* * *

_Author's Note: I can't believe I'm finally done with this story! I had loads of fun writing it :D And thank you all for the reviews and support, that means a lot to me. I hope this ending did justice for you all, it's kind of supposed to lead on to Kingdom Hearts 3, in a way. Again, thank you all so much!_


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